French & Raven’s Sources of Power

Useful for understanding how to exert influence with your stakeholders; your clients, your staff, your shareholders or even suppliers.

I never had so much power until I started giving it away!This is a quote I came across in the early 90s – can’t identify who it belongs to (please SIC if you know).So let’s have a look at French and Raven’s model and what you can do with your power and how you can empower those working within your businesses.

The great thing about analysing your business through the bases of power is that it breaks down the power into understandable sources. The more power you give away to your staff, your clients, your suppliers and shareholders the more empowered they will be to build the business based on your vision and values

Have a go, use the following template to:

Consider each of the power sources and how you use them in your business

Plot the ways that your stakeholders may be more productive if they had more influence

List how you might facilitate that happening

Please share your experiences with this model in the comments below. I am building a portfolio of small business case studies and would love to include examples of what has worked well for you.

PS – If you need further help then give me a call on 07962 626604 to arrange a Skype session with me.